C&C names new CFO as market awaits fresh strategy

DCM Editorial Summary: This story has been independently rewritten and summarised for DCM readers to highlight key developments relevant to the region. Original reporting by Irish Times, click this post to read the original article.

Drinks firm C&C has named Adam Phillips as its next chief financial officer as the owner of Bulmers in Ireland made one of its first big appointments under new leadership.

Phillips takes over from Andrew Andrea, who said in September he would leave barely 18 months after joining C&C. Phillips is expected to join the company in April, the drinks company said in a statement.

C&C shares had gained 0.4 per cent by 12:30pm in London.

The appointment is one of the first under chief executive Roger White, who took over the top job just over a year ago. His own appointment came after his predecessor Patrick McMahon quit in 2024 following the company having to restate a slew of earnings.

Phillips joins C&C from Headlam Group, a UK-based distributor of tiles and other floor coverings. He has previous experience in the drinks industry from a stint with Molson Coors earlier in his career.

“[Phillips] has a highly relevant skill set and will further build the capabilities of the leadership team,” White said. “I have every confidence that Adam will make an immediate impact as well as an important long-term contribution to the business.”

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The appointment comes barely a fortnight after the company said trading at the drinks company behind Blackthorn cider and Tennent’s lager, was below the board’s expectations in November and December, blaming weak consumer confidence following the UK budget, with “continued softness” into January. With those conditions continuing, C&C said it expected “some degree of short-term profit dilution”.

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Traders reacted promptly to the downbeat update, with a sell-off sending the shares down more than 10 per cent at the time. The stock is already off more than a fifth for the year to date.

Company-watchers are now focused on its full-year results due in May, when White is expected to update the market on his future plans for C&C.

Among the questions it faces are what to do with its wholesale distribution business, Matthew Clarke Bibendum (MCB). That unit may now be little more than “stub equity”, with an estimated enterprise value of just £7 million (€8 million), wrote Greg Johnson, an analyst at Shore Capital, in a note to clients on Thursday before Phillips’s appointment.

Among the firm’s options, C&C could exit small margin businesses, combine MCB with other similar firms, or offload it to a trade buyer.

Still, away from MCB, the company’s branded businesses, which include the likes of Magners cider in the UK, remain resilient, Johnson pointed out.

“The focus on separate branded and distribution channels, along with the challenges faced at MCB, distract from what we believe are robust, integrated operations across both Ireland and Scotland,” he wrote.

“Tennent’s and Bulmers’ respective share of the Scottish on-trade lager and Irish on-trade cider markets stands at 55 per cent and 60 per cent respectively. On our estimates, this core now accounts for [circa] 85 per cent of group profitability,” he added.